


this time next week

by perennials



Series: whence [8]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, pre timeskip because i havent reached the timeskip yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22251340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perennials/pseuds/perennials
Summary: When did it begin?
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: whence [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1419766
Comments: 4
Kudos: 98





	this time next week

For all he boasts of his incredible perceptiveness and his astounding intellect, which leaves most of his peers behind in the dust, it takes him several years to realize he’s in love with Yamaguchi. Upon alighting at the realization, he begins to go over the last few months in his head. Was it during their first match with Seijou, when Yamaguchi’s serve slammed into a wall and he made a face like he’d let a city burn? Or was it later, against Shiratorizawa, when he broke that same wall down with sheer willpower and the crowd roared at the way he hit the ball, the way it floated, floated, and then curved, ever so gently? Yamaguchi has always been a gentle person. And yet when did Kei himself finally notice? His own carelessness irks him, and makes him shove his hands deeper into his pockets as he makes the long trek back home after practice, Yamaguchi trailing along by his side, always a step behind.

“You know,” he says, then, skin thrumming with an impulsiveness revealed only by hours of running and jumping and blocking. Normal Kei would not allow for such a slip-up, but Tired Kei is the kind of character that is malleable, almost a pushover. Later, when they play Datekou and then all the other monsters lurking in Tokyo, Kageyama the dipshit will discover this for himself, and then he will nickname him Tired Tsukishima and Kei will bite back the urge to hiss at him each time he uses it. Later, he will grow into himself more, becoming the kind of volleyball player his fourteen-year-old self despised with a self-inflicted passion.

Later. “Hmm?” Yamaguchi tilts his head in his direction, ever so slightly.

“I feel like going somewhere,” he says.

“Where?”

“You decide.”

Yamaguchi brightens visibly at this, flickering all moon-like in the darkness. “Okay,” he says, quickening his pace. “Okay. I can do that.” His bag is bulky with volleyball shoes and bento boxes and beats out a steady rhythm as it thuds against his side, but he continues cheerily down the street, looking back over his shoulder to grin at Kei with an elementary schooler's round, apple-cheeked innocence.

When did it begin? Was it before Seijou or after it, before Yamaguchi grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him into his face and burned the truth into the very fabric of the evening? Was it before Karasuno, even?

Perhaps it does not matter. At this, because Tired Kei is almost a pushover, he allows himself to smile, and because Tired Kei is clumsier, Yamaguchi notices it. So they smile at each other, a pair of crows gliding quietly back home through the twilight.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/nikiforcvs) or [tumblr](http://corpsentry.tumblr.com/)
> 
> twitter request stuff. by the way yeah exams ended and i graduated so im officially free until college starts in august. finally catching up on the hq manga though im still 50 chapters behind. found a lot of new favs. thanks for reading, hope to be back with more cool stuff soon
> 
> have a good one


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